AT least 29 people have been confirmed dead and two others declared missing after a boat carrying 90 passengers capsized in Niger State on Tuesday.
News Point Nigeria reports that the tragic accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. in Gausawa community, Borgu Local Government Area, as passengers were en route to Dugga community for a condolence visit. The ill-fated boat had taken off from Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward.
According to eyewitness accounts and emergency officials, the accident was caused by overloading and a collision with a submerged tree stump in the river.
A source from the Niger State Ministry of Transport, who spoke anonymously to News Point Nigeria, revealed that none of the passengers were wearing life jackets at the time of the accident.
“The passengers were obviously not wearing life jackets, because if they had been, more if not all of them would have survived.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people in Borgu do not like to wear them for reasons best known to them,” the source said.
The Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba-Arah, confirmed the incident in a statement.
“NSEMA has received a report of a boat mishap in Gausawa, Malale area of Borgu LGA. Our desk officer led the search and rescue operations. The boat had 90 passengers on board, including women and children, heading for a condolence visit,” he explained.
Baba-Arah said that 29 corpses had been recovered, while 50 people were rescued alive. Two passengers remain unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continue.
Tuesday’s mishap marks the second boat accident in Niger State in 2025. In July, another fatal incident was recorded, also caused by a collision with a tree stump.
Boat accidents remain frequent in the state, particularly in riverine communities, often linked to poor enforcement of safety regulations, overloading, and the refusal of passengers to wear life jackets.
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) had distributed life jackets in Mokwa following last year’s catastrophic flood-related boat disaster, which killed more than 200 people.
As search teams continue their operations in Borgu, families of the deceased and survivors are grappling with the devastating loss from yet another preventable tragedy.